Conveyancing Advice
With conveyancing advice from Church Robinson, the following reasons are why you can be sure that your conveyancing is in safe hands;
- Fixed fees and no sale / no fee – no surprises and no legal fees if the sale or purchase does not proceed
- We start the legal work from day one – whether you are selling or buying, starting the legal work early will ensure that you can move on quickly and without stress
- Working well together – your conveyancer and your estate agent work closely together for your benefit
- No need to visit the office – you can use email, text, post or phone to contact us at a time that suits you
- You can track your transaction – with our unique online system you have total transparency
The Conveyancing Process Explained
Church Robinson Conveyancing takes the mystery out of the conveyancing process and makes the legal side of your move stress free.
A solicitor or conveyancer usually conducts the conveyancing process and this involves legally transferring home ownership from the seller to the buyer. Sometimes this process can be smooth and very quick; but sometimes it can be very frustrating and protracted.Conveyancing starts from you accepting an offer for your property and finishes when you hand over the keys to the buyer. Understanding what the process involves will help ensure there are fewer nasty surprises along the way. In the first instance you will need to refer any questions about your sale to your lender or conveyancer as we have no authority in this regard, but we will always be on hand to help and advise you.
To reduce delays, it is best to have chosen which conveyancer you want to use around the time you choose your estate agent. You will be asked to complete a few questionnaires about the property and what you intend to include with the sale. This list of questions will be provided to you by your conveyancer.
Your conveyancer uses this information to draw up a draft contract. This is sent to the buyer for approval.
There are likely to be negotiations over the draft contract. Things to agree include:
• Date of completion (usually 7-28 days after the exchange of contracts)
• What fixtures and fittings will be included in the sale price
• How much the buyers will agree to pay for other fixtures and fittings
• Various searches will be carried out to make sure everything is in order and, for instance, a new motorway is not planned at the bottom of your garden
• The buyer will often have a survey conducted on your property. If the survey flags up anything major – for example, the need for significant roof repairs – you may have to negotiate over who will fix this or even renegotiate over the sale price
You may plan to pay off your mortgage by requesting a redemption figure from your mortgage company. This is how much you pay upon completion of the sale.
You and the buyer will have agreed on a date and time to exchange contracts. At that time your conveyancer will exchange contracts for you. This is usually done by both conveyancers making sure the contracts are identical, and then immediately sending them to one another.
If you or the buyers are in a chain the conveyancers will do the same thing, but will only release it if the other people in the chain are all happy to go ahead. This means if one person pulls out or delays, then everyone in the chain gets held up.
Once you have exchanged contracts you will be in a legally binding contract to sell the property. It is important that you understand your responsibilities in this and that the buyer is aware that if they do not complete the purchase, you will probably keep their deposit.
• Immediately after exchange you should receive the buyer’s deposit – usually between 5% – 10% of the property price
• You own the property until completion, and so there is no need to move out before then. However, it will be a lot less stressful if you can move out some days before, rather than leaving it to the last minute.
• You should go around the property before you complete ensuring that everything that was on the fixtures and fittings inventory list is still in the property. Make sure that the loft, any sheds and the garage have been cleared and take meter readings.
In practice, the buyer normally gets the keys from Church Robinson, and you leave any spare sets you have in the property
• Your conveyancer will receive the outstanding balance of the sale price
• Your conveyancer will hand over the legal documents that prove ownership
• Any outstanding mortgage on the property can now be paid off from the proceeds of the sale. The conveyancer will normally do this. This is also when the conveyancer and the estate agent are paid.